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Iron is an essential nutrient for the basic health and functioning of the body. Without iron, oxygen is not delivered efficiently to cells, brain growth and development can be hampered, and the body struggles to maintain a strong immune system. Yet more than 2 billion people worldwide do not get enough iron, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) , making iron deficiency (ID) or iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) the world’s most common forms of malnutrition.

HIV/AIDS continues to be a serious public health concern. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 290,000 women were living with HIV in the United States in 2008.

The newly released 2011 DIR Annual Report reviews the latest basic, clinical, and translational research being pursued by the staff scientists within DIR at the NICHD. Contributing to this effort are 79 tenured and tenure-track investigators and approximately 1,200 administrative and research staff. In 2011, DIR project areas ranged from vaccine development to genomics, from reproduction to regenerative medicine, and from the neurosciences and early human development to biophysics and imaging.

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a rare genetic disorder that prevents the body from breaking down phenylalanine, an amino acid found in many proteins. As a result, phenylalanine can build up in body tissues of those with PKU and lead to intellectual disability.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1.6 million to 3.8 million sports- and recreation-related concussions occur each year in the United States. Rather than just a bump on the head, a concussion is actually a mild form of traumatic brain injury (TBI).

A research group funded in part by the NICHD Pregnancy and Perinatology (PP) Branch recently released results from several studies that examined longer-term effects of pain and stress in infants born very preterm.

Dr. Richard M. Weinshilboum will initiate the 2012 NICHD Director’s Lecture Series with a lecture on Pharmacogenomics: Beyond Biomarkers.

In the last three decades, advances in medical technology and neonatal intensive care have significantly improved the survival rates of infants born preterm. These technologies have also helped some of the smallest preemies, called extremely low birth weight (ELBW) and defined as infants weighing less than 2.2 pounds.

The NICHD continues to advance understanding of the effects of HIV/AIDS on infants, children, young people, women, and families.

On November 14, 2011, NICHD Director Alan Guttmacher, M.D., joined several other NIH Institute Directors in discussing NIH neuroscience research during the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington, D.C. Dr. Guttmacher highlighted some of the exciting neuroscience findings that NICHD researchers presented at the meeting.

On this World Pneumonia Day, it is important to keep in mind that a major impediment stands in the way of global efforts to prevent childhood pneumonia.

Since the Back to Sleep campaign began in 1994, the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) rate in the United States has decreased by more than 50 percent. This decrease occurred not only in the overall U.S. SIDS rate, but also in the SIDS rates for different racial/ethnic groups. The decrease is more than just a number—it represents thousands of infant lives.

Representatives of the agencies in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with a focus on infant health and safety today expressed their support for the new infant safe sleep recommendations issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

Midway through SIDS Awareness Month and in the midst of its annual conference, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released updated recommendations for promoting infant safe sleep.

The World Health Organization cites indoor air pollution from cooking fires and stoves as the leading cause of environmental death in the world today.

At the recent 145th meeting of the NICHD’s advisory council, NICHD Director Alan E. Guttmacher, M.D., presented some of the main concepts that have emerged from the Institute’s year-long scientific Vision process. These draft concepts will form the basis for the NICHD’s formal scientific Vision statement, which will be finalized in late 2011 or early 2012.

In June, the world marked the 30th anniversary of the first case of what is now known as AIDS. The NICHD Spotlight, 30 Years of Milestones, highlighted some of the key moments in pediatric, adolescent, and maternal AIDS research.

Pharmacists play a unique role in providing personalized health care. In many communities, they do much more than just fill prescriptions—they also provide health care and health advice to parents, children, and families on topics ranging from prenatal vitamins to maintaining a healthy weight to infant care. Sometimes, people see and interact with the pharmacist more than they do with any other health care provider.

NIH-funded scientists have developed a strain of mice with a built-in off switch that can selectively shut down the animals' serotonin-producing cells, which make up a brain network controlling breathing, temperature regulation, and mood. The switch controls only the serotonin-producing cells, and does not affect any other cells in the animal's brains or bodies.